Ink fountain and method



Nov. 26, 1929. H. c. SCHROEDER Filed July 7' 1926 INVEN TOR.

1929. H. c. SCHROEDER v INK FOUNTAIN AND METHOD '7 Sheets-Sheet Filed July '7, 1926 INVENTOR.

Nov. 26, 1929. HHHHHHHHHHH ER I 1,736,941

Nov. 26, 1929. H. c. SCHROEDER INK FOUNTAIN AND METHOD 7 Sheets- Sheet 4 Filed July 7, 1926 INVENTOR.

ATT RNEYS.

1929. H. c. SCHROEDER 1,736,941

Filed July 7. 1926 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 N 69 19290 H. CQSCHROEDER 1,736,9 1

INK FOUNTAIN AND METHOD Filed July '7, 1926 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 NW, 26 1929. u c, sc RoE 1,736,941

m FOUNTAIN AND METHOD Filed July 7,1926 '7 Sheets-Sheet 7 Patented Nov. 26, 1929 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HANS C. BCHROEDER, OF LA GRANGE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO GOSS PRINTING PRESS COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS INK FOUNTAIN AND METHOD,

Application filed July 7, 1926. Serial No. 120,909.

My invent-ion relates to printing presses, and more particularly to the ink fountaln for such printing presses, and to a method for keepin the pigment of the ink uniformly distribute throughout the body of ink in the fountain. My invention further relates to automatically agitating all the ink in the fountain while the press is running. My invention may be applied either to an ink fountain having an undershot, or an overshot ink roller.

Objects and advantages will be set forth in part hereinafter and in part will be obv1ous herefrom, or may be learned by practice with the invention, the same being realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations pointed out in the appended claims.

The invention consists in the novel parts, constructions, arrangements, combinations, improvements and method herein shown and described.

The accompanying drawings, referred to hereinand constituting a part hereof, illustrate one embodiment of the invention, and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

Of the drawings Fig. 1 is a vertical section through an ink fountain of the undershot type equipped with one form of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan View, partly broken away, of the fountain shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic vertical section showing the automatic circulation of the ink in the fountain of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section through an ink fountain of the overshot type equipped with my invention;

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic vertical section showing the automatic circulation of the ink in the fountain of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a vertical section of an ink fountain equipped with an overshot ink or fountain roller, but showing a modification of my invention;

Fig. 7 is a detail plan View of one form of my bafiie plate;

\ Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic view of the old form of the ink fountain now in common use;

Fig. 10 is a vertical section through an ink fountain showing a modification in which the baffle plate is adjustable;

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary vertical section on line 1111 of Fig. 10;

Fig. 12 is a vertical section through an ink fountain showing a different modification of an adjustable baffle plate;

Fig. 13 is a fragmentary vertical section on the line 13-13 of Fig. 12.

To more readily distinguish my invention from other inventions, and to comply with Section 4888 of the Revised Statutes, I shall briefly refer to the form of ink fountain which is now commonly employed with printing presses and which is illustrated, diagrammatically, in Fig. 9.

In this figure the ink fountain 100 has a fountain or doctor blade 101 and an undershot ink or fountain roller 102. The fountain is filled with the ordinary printing ink or fountain 103. As the ink roller 102 rotates as usual in the direction of the arrows, it sets up a local connection current of ink 104 adjacent to the surface of the ink roller 102, leaving the great mass of the ink or fountain 103 dead or unagitated. After the press has been running for a comparatively short time it is found in practice thatthe pigment is withdrawn or used from the local current of ink designated 104 in Fig. 9, and then the ink, which is fed by the ink or fountain roller 102 to the ductor roll becomes thin and loses color. When this condition,arises, under the present practice, the fountain blade. 101, has to be opened, somewhat, to obtain sufficient color from the thin ink which is being fed from the local current 104. Again, in the present practice when the press is idle, there is, of course, no local current 104, so that the pigment throughout the body of the ink 103 has a tendency to settle to the bottom of the fountain 100. If this settling has continued any length of time it is necessary to open the fountain or doctor blade 101 to relieve the congestion caused by the settling of this pigment. After this congestion has been relieved, by removing the pigment at this point, it is necessary to close the fountain or doctor blade 101 again against the ink or fountain roller 102 in order to secure the proper amount of ink feed for the ductor roll. Ordinarily, in running color, it is necessary for the pressman to stir up the ink in the fountain by hand about every fifteen minutes.

By my invention ll eliminate all these obiectionable features, and insure that the pigment in the ink will be uniformly and automatically distributed throughout the ink in the fountain. it will not be necessary to adjust the fountain or doctor blade to permit an additional quant ty of thin ink to be taken up by the ink or fountain roller, for in my invention, the coloring content and the consistency of the ink will always be uniform,

insuring uniformity of color in the printed product. Further, any tendency that the pigment has to settle out by gravity will be automatically corrected by currents of ink set up, and maintained in the fountain.

My method may be carried out by various forms of apparatus, the invention being applicable both to an undershot and overshot ink or fountain roller. In the accompanying drawings, 1 have shown my invention applied to fountains equipped with overshot and undershot ink'or fountain rollers.

In the drawings (Fig. 1) 1 is a standard form of ink fountain equipped with the ordinary form of undershot or fountain ink roller 2 cooperating with the ordinary form of duetor roll 3. This fountain 1 is provided with the ordinary form of fountain or doctor. blade 4 and adjusting members 5, 5 controlled b the screws 6, 6 cooperating with the threaded sockets 7, 7 in the flange 8, all as in the usual practice.

By my method I insure that the entire body of ink within the fountain 1 shall travel automatically in a certain path, and that there will be substantially no dead ink in the fountain and substantially no or any ink traveling in a local current. In this manner, the pigment in the ink is kept uniform throughout the body of the ink which insures that the consistency and coloring matter of the ink will always be uniform; and this, in turn, in-

sures uniformity of color in the printed product. After once adjusting the fountain or doctor blade 4 against the ink or fountain roller 2, to get the proper quantity of ink on the ink or fountain roller sothat it can be passed to the ductor roll 3, it is not necessary to readjust this fountain or. doctor blade to rmit any additional quantity of ink to be ed by the ink or fountain roller to get the necessary pigment, as in the old practice previously described.

The simplest form of my invention consists in mounting a baffle plate 10 in the ink foun-- tain'l so' that its edge 11 is adjacent to the the bafiie plate 10.

2 rotates in the direction of the arrow in that figure, the entire body of ink 12 in the fountain 1 is'caused to circulate towards the end of the fountain or doctor blade 4, but as only a very small quantity passes out between the periphery of the ink or fountain roller 2 and the fountain or doctor blade 4 the great mass of the ink in the fountain cannot escape and, therefore, is caused to travel up the fountain between the fountain or doctor blade 4 and the baflie plate 10 until it passes the upper end 13 of the baffle plate, when it reverses its travel as indicated by the arrows, passing back above the baflie plate to the periphery of the ink or fountain roller 2, thence between the end 11 of the baffle plate and the periphery of the ink or fountain roller 2 in a continuous stream as indicated. by, thearrows. p It Will be seen that in my inventionv substantially no local current can be set up, that there is no dead ink, and that any pigment that may have a tendency to settle on the bottom of the fountain will be picked up and carried along by the moving stream of ink, so that in a few circuits of the current the pigment will be thoroughly mixed throughoutv the ink insuring an even color and consistency to the entire body of ink.

This baffle plate 10 may be mounted in the fountain in any suitable manner. I prefy erably mount it so that it can be readily removed to permit cleaning, and also to permit ready cleaning of the fountain; The bafiie plate may be formed in sections, or it may be continuous extending from side to side of the fountain 1 depending upon the form of fountain. I have shown it carried by two arms 15, 15, the arms being provided with books 16, for hookin over the edge 17 of the fountain. They may e clamped in place by the thumb screws 18, 18. To space the arms 15, 15 awayfrom the fountain blade 4, I preferably provide the arms with screws 19, 19 having non circular sockets 20, 20 for the reception of a suitable tool to rotate them.

I preferably, though not necessarily, bend down the end 11 of the baflle plate 10, as shown in Fig. 1, which helps to insure complete circulation of the entire body of ink in the fountain, and prevents the formation of any local currents circulating above the bafiie plate. By bending the end 11 down a sort of suction iscreated below the baflie plate, and this draws the ink down below In Fig. 4 I- have shown the preferred form of my invention applied to an ink fountain having an overshot ink or fountain roller. In this form, the ink fountain 21 has the overshot or fountain ink roller 22 and the fountain or doctor blade 23, all of usual construction. In this preferred form my bafie plate 24 is supported so that its end 25 is brought adjacent to the fountain or doctor blade 23 and at an angle to the bottom of the fountain. In this form the bafie plate is carried by arms 26, 26, being preferably riveted thereto by the rivets 27, 27 These arms have a heel portion 28 which 'areseated in the angle 29 between the bottom 30 and the side 31 of the fountain. The arms 26 are provided with books 32 so that they may be secured to the side 31 of the fountain by a clamping bolt 33.

reference to the diagram of Fig. 5, it will be seen that the ink 12 in the fountain 21 will be caused to circulate as indicated by the arrows in that figure. The ink in contact with the ink or fountain roller 22 will move with that roller and pass under the end 25 of the baffle plate 24. As only a very small quantity can escape between the periphery of 5 the ink or fountain roller 22 and the end of the fountain or doctor blade 23the surplus ink will be scraped off by the fountain or doctor blade 23 and caused to travel above the baffle plate 2 1 and thence to the side 31 of the ink fountain where the ink will form two currents, the upper current passing by-a short out under the bafie plate 2 1 to the periphery of the inking or fountain roller 22, whereas another portion of the ink will travel along the bottom of the fountain until it reaches the end 35 of the fountain and then into contact with the periphery of the inking or fountain roller 22. A portion of the ink will not reach the end 35, but will be deflected and make a short cut, beino acted upon by the current of ink traveling adjacent to. the periphery of the ink or fountain roller 22. These difi'erent currents ef ink will all meet or merge between the end 25 of the bathe plate 242, and the pe-- riphery of the ink or fountain roller 22 as shown by the arrows, so that there will be a complete commingling and movement of all the ink in the fountain, with the same advantages of thorough mixing of the pigment and of uniform consistency and coloring matter of the ink, together with the other advantages described in connection with the first form In Fi .6, and diagrammatically in Fig. 8, l have s'iown a diderent manner of mounting my baffie plate with an overshot ink or fountain roller, though I prefer the arrangement shown in Fig. 4 and diagrammatically in Fig. 5.

In this form of my invention, the baflle plate 36 is mounted on the arms 37 by means of rivets 38, 38, or in any other suitable manner, so that the end 39 of the baffle plate will be removed from the fountain or doctor blade 23. The arm 37 is provided with a hook 38 and a clamping screw 33 to clamp it to the side 31 of the ink fountain 21.

By reference to the diagrammatic view, Fig. 8, it will be seen that there. is no dead ink in the fountain 21, but, on the contrary the entire body of ink is in circulation-and moving substantially as indicated by the an rows. This form has the same numerous advantages that T have described for the other form, though 1 prefer, as previously stated,

the arrangement shown in Figs. 4 and 5 for an overshot ink or fountain roller.

In Figs. 10 and 11, and also in Figs. 12 and 13 T have shown a bae plate which is adjustable in the fountain. By this, it is meant that means are provided to vary the positionof the bafile plate horizontally, vertically, and also to vary its angular inclination within desirable limits;

With more particular reference to Figs.-

10and 11 the bathe-plate is secured to two brackets 51, 51 (only one being shown) by rivets 52, 52 or other suitable securing means These brackets are keyed to a rod 53 to which slotted levers 54,-, 54; are also keyed by keys on the stud mounted in the slot 61 in the bracket 62 fast on the fountain 21,

It is clear by loosening the nuts 63, 63 the battle plate 56 and arms 56, 56 can be adjusted in a vertical direction by repositioning the studs 60, 60 in the slots 61, 61, and

again tightening the nuts 63, 63. This also permits the entire bathe plate 50 with its con nected parts to be adjusted to or from the ink roller 22, by rocking the arms 56, 56 on the studs 60, 60, with or without any vertical adjustment,

By means of the arcuate slots 57, 57 in the.

levers 5t, 54: the bee plate 50 can be given a secondary arcuate adjustment to or from the ink or fountain roller 22., It will, there fore, be clear that my baffle plate 50 is radially adjustable by means of the studs 60, 60 being adjustable in the slots 61, 61; that it has an arcuateor angular adjustment by means of the arms 56, 56 being pivoted on the studs 60,60 and adapted to be held in any adjusted position by means of the nuts63, 63; and that the bafie plate 50 has a secondary arcuate adjustment by means of the arcuate slots 57, 57 in the levers 54, 54 cooperating with the thumb screws 58, 58.

Byyirtue of the above described means to vary the position ofthe baffle plate, it is readily seen that means are provided whereby the direction of the currents in the fountain can be varied at will. The flow of the ink and the convection currents set up by the movement of the fountain roller depend to a great this invention tlfe best results are obtained by very nicely ositioning the bafie plate for each set of con itions.

' In Figs. 12 and 13 I have shown another modification wherein the adjustment of the baffle plate is the same as in Figs. 10 and 11 just described.

In this form I make the bafie plate in a plurality of parts. In the form shown by way of illustration the baffle plate is formed of the adjustable portion which is substantially the same as the bafhe plate50 in Figs. 10 and 11. The heel portion 66 of the bafiieplate is secured in any suitable manner to extensions 67, 67 on the arms 156, 156, said arms being similar in all respects to the arms 56, 56 except they are provided with these extensions. By adjusting the portion 65 of the baffle plate without relation to the heel portion 66, a substantially curved baffle plate is. obtained. This curvature can be changed within the limits of the arcuate adjustment of the slots 57, 57. a

By virtue of the above described means it,

is possible to nicely position not only the whole bafile plate, but to change the form thereof to meet a given set of conditions; This variably positioning of a section of the bafile plate thus introduces an additional variation into the form of the bafile plate, whereby the form of a curved plate can be approximated and its curvature changed at will within desired limits.

It is to be understood that the statement of the theory of operation of applicants invention is that founded on applicants understanding at the present time, but should not be construed as restrictive of the actual manner of operation, which is in practice to secure the results stated.

I am aware that different kinds of agitators for stirring the ink in fountains have been employed, but they have proved unsuccessful in practice in addition to obstructing the filling and cleaning of the fountain.

The invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific mechanisms shown and described but departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the accompanying claims Without departing from the principles of the invention and without sacrificing its chief advantages.

What I claim is 1-. The method of thoroughly mixing and keeping all portions of the printing inan ink fountain of a rinting machine of uniform colorand consistency consisting in causing the ink in the fountain to move along the bottom of the fountainrto pick up any pigment that might have'a tendency to'settle out and mix it thoroughly, throughthe body of the ink in the fountain.

2. The method of thoroughly mixing and keeping all portions of the printing ink in an ink fountain of a printing'machine of uniform color and consistency consisting in 0 using the ink in the fountain to travel along a predetermined path, a ortion of the path being along the bottom. 0 the fountain.-

3. The combination in an ink fountain of a printing machine, an ink roller, and a movable bafie plate cooperating with the-roller and provided with means to hook over the edge of the fountain. I r

4. An ink fountain for a printing press ineluding in combination an undershot fountain roller adapted to rotatetherein, and a baille plate mounted in the fountain having a one edge adjacent the fountain roller, said edge being curved downward.

5jAn ink fountain for a printing-"press including in combination anundershot fountain roller adapted to rotate therein, and a baffle plate mounted in the fountain having one edge adjacent and parallel to the fountain roller, said edge beingcurved downward, and having'the opposite edge spaced apart from the fountain wall.

6. An ink fountain including in combination a fountain roller adapted to rotate therein, a flexible variantly tensionable fountain blade cooperating therewith and means for directing the currents set up by the rotation of the fountain roller to remote parts of the fountain. Y

7. An ink fountain including in combination a fountain roller adapted to rotate therein, a flexible variantly tensionable fountain blade cooperating therewith and a bafile plate cooperating with the convection currents set up by the drag of the fountain roller through the ink to maintain the ink in a substantially uniform state.

8. An ink fountain including in combination an undershot fountain roller adapted to rotate therein, a fountain blade, means for controlling the amount of ink fed from the fountain with regulable uniformity and stationary means spaced from the blade for maintaining uniform the ink in the fountain.

9'. An ink fountain having mounted therein a rotatable undershot fountain roller, a fountain blade co-operating therewith and means spaced from and substantially parallel with said fountain blade for directing the ink currents induced by the rotation of the fountain roller aw'ay'from their upward course and throu 'h the mass of ink.

10. The method of maintaining uniform the ink contained in an ink fountain of a printing press which includes setting up convection currents in the ink fountain. as ink is fed to the press and impelling the ink subject to the convection currents throu h the mass of ink in the fountain where y the solid particles in the ink are maintained in even and uniform distribution throughout the mass of ink.

11. The method of maintaining uniform the ink contained in an ink fountain of a printing press which includes settin up a local convection current in an ink gonntain and continuously circulating the solid pigmentous particles uniformly throughout the ink in the fountain by diverting the convection currents through the mass of ink in the fountain.

.12. An ink fountain including in combination a fountain roller adapted to rotate therein, a flexible fountain blade cooperating therewith for regulating the ink fed from the fountain and means for directin the currents set up by the rotation of the o tain roller to remote parts of the fountain.

,In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this s ecification.

S C. SCHROEDER. 

